Chocolate Lovers Take Heart

“A good piece of real, dark chocolate will not hurt anyone. In fact, a little chocolate may even be good for you. ”

Perhaps I was premature griping about how people can develop an entire business around a single product like chocolate. But this is America, and the latest research proves once again that a real food, including real chocolate, can actually be a pretty good thing when eaten in moderation.

Australian researchers watched more than 1,000 women who ate or did not eat chocolate for over 10 years. About half the women rarely or never ate dark chocolate, and the other half ate it weekly or even daily. Turns out that the women who ate the chocolate were much more heart healthy. They were less likely to be hospitalized for atherosclerotic vascular disease (clogged arteries), or even die from it. They were also less likely to develop ischemic heart disease (heart attacks), congestive heart failure, and plaque in their arteries.

So, while a good study, this was far from a placebo-controlled study. Nonetheless, I am a proponent of evidence-based medicine. It seems that with all else aside, the flavonoids and other phytonutrients found in real, dark chocolate may be protective to the linings of your arteries. The fact that flavonoids and phytonutrients from other plants are blood-vessel-lining protective has been proven in many other, more scientific studies. And since a good proportion of heart and blood vessel disease results from irritation, inflammation, and infection in the linings of the arteries, the protective effect of real, dark chocolate makes sense.

This does not give you the green light to load up daily at the See’s Candies counter. Rather these women ate one to two ounces of real, dark chocolate (at least 70% dark) from once daily to once weekly. As part of a healthy diet, this makes sense to me. Let’s face it, we all love chocolate. When it comes to personal habits, a sweet tooth, etc., I am definitely pragmatic (realistic). There is simply no getting around it, and it makes no sense to pretend. We all love sweets, and we are going to eat some. So if you can satisfy your sweet tooth with something that tastes great and is good for you, even better.

So I am researching good chocolate that will contain at least 70% dark chocolate, with the naturally occurring flavonoids and phytonutrients. This can serve both as a sweet and as a potential protein drink when combined with whey protein to serve as a meal replacement for weight loss. Wouldn’t a thick, rich, chocolate shake made with real, dark chocolate and fruit make your weight loss easier? I will keep you posted on the progress of my search.

HEALTH ALERT January 2013, Vol. 30, Issue 1